Thread guide



T. RovAs 2,671,943

THREAD GUIDE 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 16, 1954 Filed sept. 18,1951

JNVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 16, 19544 THREAD GUIDE Tobias Rovas, Cleveland, Ohio,assignor of forty per cent to Ohio Knitting Mills, Inc., Cleveland,

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application September 18, 1951, Serial No.247,119

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an apparatus for 'winding yarn or threads ontoa Work beam and particularly onto warp beams which are used in knittingmachines.

Fabrics from which sweaters are made are usually so knitted that onelongitudinal half of the web has its pattern reversed with respect tothe adjacent half so vthat when the finished web is foldedlongitudinally, the patterns will be superimposed upon each other. Thiswill enable two identical panels to be cut simultaneously. To. achievesuch reversal of pattern, it is necessary to wind the Warp beam withthreads or strands which are prearranged with respect to each other asto color, and it is necessary to reverse such arrangement on adjacentsections of the warp beam. SuchV reversal has necessitated either therethreading of a guide bar or the utilization of a reversible barthrough which the strands have previously been threaded. One form ofsuch reversible bar has been illustrated, described and claimed in myco-pending application, Serial No. 24,643, led May l, 1948, now PatentNo. 2,578,017.

The reversible bar shown in my aforesaid application has the threadreceiving openings equally spaced in a direction extendinglongitudinally of the bar, but frequently, it is desired to have thenumber of threads per inch wound onto the beam different from thespacing of the holes in the bar. An effort has been made to accomplishsuch change by mounting the bar on a vertical swivel, but upon inversionof the bar, to reverse the pattern, difficulty has been experienced inobtaining the precise angular position for achieving the same desirednumber of threads to the inch.

An object of the present invention is to maintain the advantages of athreaded guide bar, but at the same time to eliminate the diiiiculty ofmaintaining the desired spacing of the strands upon reversal of thestrand relationship at the completion of the winding of a section on theWarp beam.

An additional object is to construct a device by means of which thestrands remain threaded through spaced openings in a guide, and yet thespacing thereof can be quickly and automatically altered to suit anydesired range of spacing within predetermined limits.

Briefly, the invention is carried out by utilizing a guide in the formof a lazy tongs or parallel linkage device, wherein parallel links areprovided with regularly spaced openings of convenient size to permit thestrands to be readily -2 threaded therethrough, and wherein the ends ofthe device are suitably mounted in brackets which can be moved along astationary bar. The bar is suitably calibrated to indicate the number ofthreads per inch, wherefore, by anchoring one of the brackets and movingthe other along the bar, a change in thread spacing can be automaticallyobtained without necessitating any rethreading operation at any time.The thread guide is detachably connected to the brackets and cantherefore be inverted so as to reverse the thread arrangement from thatpreviously wound.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of aportion of a warp beam which is being wound in accordance with thepresent invention; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the thread guideembodying the present invention and showing the guide in extendedposition; Figure 3 is a section taken on a plane indicated by the line3-3 in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view similar to Figure l,illustrating the thread guide in a position which is more extended thanthat of Figure 1.

In the drawings, I0 indicates the warp beam which is being wound withstrands Il from individual bobbins (not shown). The strands leading fromthe bobbins are indicated at IIA as being threaded through regularlyspaced openings in a guide bar I2. From theguide bar, the strands,indicated at I IB, pass into a thread guide which is made in accordancewith the present invention.

The thread guide embodies a set of pivotally interconnected parallellinks designated lazy tongs and embodying parallel bars 2l] which areinterconnected pivotally by bars 2l at intermediate points 23 and at endpoints 24 and 25 respectively. The bars 20 are provided with equallyspaced openings at 30 through which the strands may be threaded as theypass from the spacing bar I2 to the friction guide roll 3|, over guideroll 32 and on to the beam I0. The ends of the thread guide arepivotally connected to brackets 42 and 43 respectively, the latter beingslidably mounted upon a bar 45 which has graduated markings 46 thereon,by means of which the length of the guide may be adjusted in accordancewith the desired number of threads per inch to be wound onto the beam. l

The preferred form of connection between the ends of the thread guideand the supporting brackets includes pivot pins 40 and 4I which areadjustably clamped in slots 4'I and 48 in the brackets 42 and "43respectively, whereas the brackets, in turn, may be adjustably clampedupon the bar 45 by means of wing screws 49 and 50 respectively. Thus,for example, Whenever the threads are to be positioned close tcgether,it is only necessary to move the brackets toward each other in thedesired amount, and to clamp them to the bar 45. Where, however, a widerspacing is desired it is only necessary to extend the brackets and toclamp them in a new location on the bar 45 as is shown, for example, inFigure 4.

At the completion of the winding of a panel, if it be desired to reversethe threads for winding an adjacent section 63 of the beam, then it isonly necessary to remove the Wing bolts 40 and 4I and to invert theposition of the thread guide without removing any of the strands fromthe openings therein. The desired thread spacing can then be quickly setin accordance with the markings on the rule bar.

An advantage of the present invention is the fact that the threads orstrands may be quickly adjusted for any desired spacing and may then bealtered either by inversion or by a change of spacing in an expeditiousmanner. A further advantage of the invention is that it may be readilyapplied to existing winding machines.

I claim:

1. In combination, a support, a pair of brackets slidably carried by thesupport and a thread guide extending between the brackets and comprisinga plurality of parallel bars interconnected to form a lazy tongs, someof said bars having openings therein spaced at equal intervals forreceiving thread strands, and means for removably securing each end ofthe thread guide to an adjacent bracket whereby said thread guide may bereversed with the thread intact between the brackets.

2. In combination, a bar having graduations thereon, a pair of bracketsslidably mounted on said bar, each bar having a vertically extendingslot therein, a lazy tongs thread guide and means extending through saidslots for adjustably securing the ends of said guide to said brackets.

3. A thread guide for a winding machine comprising, a plurality of barsinterconnected to form a lazy tongs, some of said bars having equallyspaced thread-receiving openings therein, a bracket removably connectedto each end of the lazy tongs, a longitudinal support, and means foradjustably mounting said brackets in spaced relation on the support withthe lazy tongs spaced from the support whereby said lazy tongs may befreely extended and contracted in a direction parallel to said support.

4. In combination, a longitudinal supporting bar having graduationsthereon, a pair of brackets slidably mounted in spaced relation on saidbar, a lazy tongs thread guide extending between the brackets and havingeach end removably supported in a bracket, each bracket having a slotcommunicating with the corresponding end of the lazy tongs, a pivot pindisposed in each slot for adjustably clamping the ends in thecorresponding brackets, and locking means coacting between each bracketand the support for securing the brackets in selected positions thereon.

'roBIAs RovAs.

References Cited in the lle of this patent UNTED STATES PATENTS NameDate 1,025,442 Anderson et a1 May 7, 1912 1,394,431 Lea Oct. 18, 19211,940,054 Herrold Y Dec. 19, 1933 2,427,827 Whitener Sept. 23, 1947

